MetLife Investment Management LLC Buys 93,099 Shares of UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS)

MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its position in UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS - Free Report) by 31.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 385,487 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 93,099 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC's holdings in UBS Group were worth $11,778,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of UBS Group during the fourth quarter worth $5,594,066,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of UBS Group by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 127,886,868 shares of the bank's stock valued at $3,915,512,000 after buying an additional 1,296,428 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in UBS Group by 29.4% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 55,533,620 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,695,087,000 after acquiring an additional 12,609,616 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its holdings in UBS Group by 18.9% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 34,979,795 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,070,335,000 after acquiring an additional 5,555,624 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi boosted its stake in UBS Group by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 16,751,961 shares of the bank's stock valued at $543,936,000 after acquiring an additional 95,712 shares during the period.

UBS Group Stock Performance

UBS traded up $0.56 on Wednesday, hitting $29.10. The company had a trading volume of 3,202,027 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,272,012. UBS Group AG has a 1-year low of $25.75 and a 1-year high of $35.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.76, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The company's fifty day moving average price is $31.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $31.95. The stock has a market cap of $93.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.15 and a beta of 1.16.

UBS Group (NYSE:UBS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The bank reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.31 by ($0.08). UBS Group had a net margin of 6.93% and a return on equity of 5.93%. The business had revenue of $11.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.90 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.09) EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that UBS Group AG will post 1.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UBS Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced an annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 16th were given a dividend of $0.90 per share. This is a positive change from UBS Group's previous annual dividend of $0.23. This represents a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 16th. UBS Group's payout ratio is 14.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on UBS. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of UBS Group from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. StockNews.com cut UBS Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded UBS Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of UBS Group from a "moderate sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of UBS Group from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold".

UBS Group Profile

UBS Group AG provides financial advice and solutions to private, institutional, and corporate clients worldwide. It operates through five divisions: Global Wealth Management, Personal & Corporate Banking, Asset Management, Investment Bank, and Non-core and Legacy. The company offers investment advice, estate and wealth planning, investing, corporate and banking, and investment management, as well as mortgage, securities-based, and structured lending solutions.